ART AND POETRY ANTHOLOGY: INSPIRATION SPEAKS

Earlier this year on a whim, I followed a tweet by the wonderful twitter friend @jesskristie (author of Dreaming in Darkness). It led me on a magical writer's journey and helped me rediscover my poetry.

The link was to a website called Art Platform; an awesome website where artists sell their work with a hefty percentage going to a charity of their choice. Go check it out, some of the art work is just stunningly beautiful and an attainable investment.

Art Platform and Winter Goose Publishing were establishing a Writers in Residence program with the thoughts of compiling an anthology of the written word and the printed image. The aim was to raise money for the charity Cola-Life.

It was a simple premise. Choose an artwork from the collection which spoke to you the most and then write a poem about it. There were so many to chose from but their was something so essentially raw about the human emotion shown in Saeed Azish's piece called 'Sounds of Us' that it inspired the words to literally flow out of me.

I wrote the poem 'Sounds of Us' in the space of under twenty minutes and even when I had slept on it and ran it past several of my critical friends, it was agreed that it was as it should be.

This is not my usual style; normally it takes at least a month for me to retweek, rework and fiddle with a poem. Even then I tend to set them aside (like a good casserole or wine) to mature. When it was accepted to be part of the publication, the boost to my writing confidence was immense and I want to thank Jess for having such faith in me.

It also taught me that there is a purity in the expression of poetry which sometimes does better for not being over tightened.

You can SUPPORT THESE AMAZING ARTISTS, WRITERS and CHARITY by purchasing the antholgy of work called 'Inspiration Speaks' published by Winter Goose Publishing.

OverView (Taken from The Barnes & Noble website) #

Inspiration Speaks is a perfect coalescence of the beautiful worlds of art and literature by the not-for-profit organization ArtPlatform.org. Step inside these pages where heartfelt emotional writing collides with breathtaking art to produce a captivating world of imagination. A large portion of all profits will be going to benefit ColaLife; dedicated to helping remote communities in need. So open your heart – then open your mind – and allow inspiration to speak to your soul. .

BUY YOUR COPY HERE for $7.99 e-book edition

Published by Winter Goose publishing and edited by Jessica Kristie

SOUND OF US by Saeed Azish is available to purchase for £1,2oo with 50% of the proceeds going to the charity KIDSCOMPANY.

It can be purchased HERE